Ball and throwing stick



Sept. 1, 1959 G. J. WALLER 2,902,023

BALL AND THROWING STICK Filed May 9, 1958 FIG/2 INVE NTOR G EO RG EJ.WALLER United States Patent 2,902,023 BALL AND THROWING STICK George J. Waller, East Elmhurst, NY. Application May 9, 1958, Serial No. 734,194 3 Claims. (Cl. 124-5) This invention relates to games or amusement devices and more particularly to means for projecting a ball from a throwing stick.

The ball of the present invention is hollow and has a pair of opposed apertures along a common diameter. The ball is mounted on a throwing stick by inserting the stick through the apertures and the ball may be projected from the throwing stick or shaft with great speed and accuracy. When the throwing shaft is rotated with a whiplike motion. the centrifugal force causes the ball to slide along the shaft and olf the end thereof.

This application is an improvement of my Patent No. 2,705,148 of the same title, granted March 29, 1955, for a similar device. However, the ball in the prior patent incorporated a separate hollow tube member connecting the two apertures to facilitate guiding the ball along the shaft. I have found that it is difficult to manufacture the ball as shown in the patent due to the separate piece construction whereby a plastic or metal tube was inserted. I have also found that the tube had a tendency to un balance the ball and also caused it to take erratic bounces due to the fact that the compressibility of the ball was not uniform along all diameters.

In the ball of the present invention I have eliminated the separate tube member and have substituted therefor a pair of internal lips around the inside edges of the apertures. The internal lips provide the same guiding function as the separate tube and do not affect the balance or bouncing characteristics of the ball as adversely as the tube. The size of the internal lips is chosen to provide a sufficient guide area and also so that the weight of the internal lips is substantially equal to the weight of a wall section the same size as the aperture. Therefore, the ball is substantially balanced which greatly increases the accuracy of projection.

Accordingly, a principal object of the invention is to provide a ball adapted to be projected by a throwing stick or shaft.

Another object of the invention is to provide a one piece ball adapted to be projected from a throwing stick without any separate metal or plastic pieces.

Another object of the invention is to provide a throwing shaft and a hollow ball adapted to be mounted on said shaft, the ball having a pair of apertures along a common diameter, the unbalance caused by said apertures being compensated by internal guiding lips around each aperture.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings, of which:

Figure 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention, and,

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the ball of the present invention.

Referring to the figures the invention comprises a throwing shaft 1 having a handle member 2 upon which is mounted a ball 3. The ball is preferably a hollow sphere of a good grade of hard rubber. I have found that solid balls are not suitable since they tend to sting the hands when caught. The ball 3 has a pair of round apertures 4 and 5 along a common diameter D. The diameter of the apertures is not critical but it should be slightly larger than that of the throwing shaft. For instance, a diameter of the apertures of would be suit- 2,902,023 Patented Sept. 1, 1959 able for a throwing shaft of approximately /2" to /8" in diameter.

One of the difliculties with projecting a ball from a shaft is that the ball tends to snag on the tip of the shaft when leaving. In other words, after the first aperture has cleared the end of the shaft, the ball is not evenly supported on the shaft and tends to rotate causing a gripping of the shaft by the other aperture. This greatly affects the accuracy and distance of throwing and also the enjoyment of the user. In order to avoid this difliculty, I have incorporated internal flanges or lips around each aperture to provide more guiding surface for the throwing shaft. In order to preserve the balance of the ball as much as possible it is preferable to choose the size of the internal lips so that their weight is approximately equal to the weight of a wall section the size of the aperture. In other words the internal lip compensates for the loss of weight at the aperture and substantially preserves the balance of the ball.

The throwing stick or shaft may be of hard wood or metal and should preferably have some spring. The length of the shaft is not critical but may be on the order of 15 to 18 inches, exclusive of the handle. The size of the ball is not critical. I have found that a ball approximately 2% in diameter and weighing 3 or 3% ounces and having a wall thickness of approximately A is quite satisfactory. The ball may be made of rubber, plastic, or other elastic material.

The wall of the ball should not be too thin as it is preferable that sufiicient wall thickness be provided to give body. On the other hand a solid ball is not too desirable as it tends to be too heavy. A solid ball of light material such as sponge rubber is not desirable since the mounting of the ball on the stick causes the soft sponge material to chip OE and deteriorate.

I claim:

1. A game ball adapted to be slidably mounted on a throwing shaft for projection therefrom, comprising a hollow round body of elastic material having a pair of opposed round apertures in the side wall of said body on a common diameter thereof, and an internal lip formed around each aperture, said lip having length substantially greater than the thickness of the wall of said ball and the weight of said lip being substantially equal to that of a wall section the same size as said aperture.

2. A game ball adapted to be slidably mounted on a throwing shaft for projection therefrom, comprising a hollow round body of elastic material having a pair of opposed round apertures in the side wall of said body on a common diameter thereof, and means for guiding said ball along said shaft comprising an internal lip formed around each aperture, said lip having length substantially greater than the thickness of the wall of said ball and the weight of said lip being substantially equal to that of a wall section the same size as said aperture.

3. A throwing shaft, a game ball adapted to be slidably mounted on said shaft for projection therefrom, comprising a hollow round body of elastic material having a pair of opposed round apertures in the side wall of said body on a common diameter thereof, and an internal lip formed around each aperture, said lip having length substantially greater than the thickness of the wall of said ball and the weight of said lip being substantially equal to that of a wall section the same size as said aperture.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 189,674 Woods Apr. 17, 1877 859,378 Fleischmann July 9, 1907 2,035,975 Meyer Mar. 31, 1936 2,705,148 Waller Mar. 29, 1955 

